


Winter's Waking

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: Gabriel in the MCU [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: Bamfery, Fix-It, Gabriel has phenomenal cosmic powers, Gabriel helps or hurts, Gen, Hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 05:29:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2535878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, Gabriel hadn't been expecting to land in Steve's apartment and find some black guy with an eyepatch there. Or for the guy to be in such bad shape.</p><p>Nor had he expected a sniper to be lying in wait, for that matter. But these things happen.</p><p>(The events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier with bonus Gabriel.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter's Waking

**Author's Note:**

> I know that I haven't finished writing Displaced yet, but someone told me that I should totally write the Winter Soldier into the story somehow. I was like, _yes, great idea,_ except that given the time frames in Displaced, there was no way it was going to fit into that story.
> 
> Which meant, obviously, that I needed to write a sequel to Displaced covering the events of CATWS, except that I couldn't bring myself to wait until after I'd finished Displaced. So here you are, guys. You get this story early!

**Winter's Waking**

It had been two long years, give or take a few months, since Gabriel had ended up in the Avengers’ universe. Gabriel had finally gotten used to the idea that he was stuck here. Most days, he didn’t even mind; it was a more… _hopeful_ universe than his own, and here he had friends – not to mention the fact that he was living in a world where his brothers couldn’t trap him or kill him. Yes, he missed his home, and his family, of course he did, but Gabriel had finally made his peace with that. Part of him would always miss them – but the rest of him had moved on, and adjusted to the fact that he was in a different universe, now.

Most people didn’t know that he was an archangel, of course. The other Avengers knew, thanks to a dinner party that hadn’t gone as planned (Thor had been filled in later, once he left Asgard to settle on Earth), but Gabriel hadn’t shared his identity with anyone else. Most people knew him as Gabriel Messenger, an upbeat kind of guy who liked candy and had a sense of humour.

In the intervening years Gabriel’s Grace had finally healed from the injury Lucifer had inflicted on it, and Gabriel was once again one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Not that anybody had any inkling of Gabriel’s power, except for Steve Rogers, who had at least a clue.

Speaking of Steve – he’d been away on missions for the last few weeks, living in DC in the meantime, but he should be back by now. Gabriel took flight.

“Honey, I’m home!” Gabriel yelled, landing in Steve’s apartment. A moment later he registered two things: one, Steve wasn’t home; two, there was a dude with an eyepatch sitting in one of Steve’s chairs, and boy, was he in bad shape.

“Who the hell are you?” Gabriel asked bluntly.

“I might ask you the same question,” said Eyepatch Dude, his one visible eye wide as he looked at Gabriel.

“Yeah, no, I have full permission to be here,” said Gabriel. “You know, you don’t look so good.”

Gabriel snapped his fingers, healing the other man’s numerous injuries.

“There we go,” Gabriel said brightly. “Now we can have a real discussion. So. Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of Steve’s,” said the guy, holding up his phone. On-screen it said, _EARS EVERYWHERE._

Gabriel groaned as he put two and two together, and realised that this was likely someone from SHIELD.

“Oh, you’re one of _those_ buddies,” he said aloud. “What happened to you?”

“My wife kicked me out,” the guy said.

“Uh-huh.” Gabriel wondered what had _really_ happened. “Well, Steve should be home soon, I guess.”

Eyepatch Dude eyeballed Gabriel.

“Steve never mentioned that he had a friend who had free run of his place,” he said slowly, and with faint accusation. Gabriel knew what he really meant: _SHIELD was never told he had a friend with superhuman powers._

Gabriel made a dismissive sound.

“Most of his good friends know who I am. I guess that tells you where you stand, huh?”

There was the sound of shattering glass, and Eyepatch Dude gasped and collapsed back in his chair, two bullet-wounds in his torso. Gabriel looked from the drawn curtains – which now had holes in them – to Eyepatch Dude. Gabriel quickly prevented any more sound from escaping the apartment, because he couldn’t think of any other way the sniper could have worked out where Eyepatch Dude was sitting.

“Man, you are not having a good day today, are you?” Gabriel asked rhetorically. A snap of Gabriel’s fingers, and the bullets were removed from Eyepatch Dude’s chest, and his wounds were healed. “You might want to sit somewhere else, in case that sniper tries again,” Gabriel added helpfully.

Eyepatch Dude sent Gabriel an incredulous and bewildered look.

Someone kicked the door in, and Gabriel raised a hand, ready to snap his fingers, but Eyepatch Dude barked, “Don’t!”

Steve’s hot blonde next-door neighbour – the SHIELD plant – blinked in surprise at the sight of Eyepatch Dude, and lowered her gun slightly.

“Sir?”

She spun around again as the door slammed shut behind her at Gabriel’s finger-snap, the lock repairing itself.

“I would _really_ like to know what the hell is going on,” Gabriel said thoughtfully, allowing a little annoyance to infuse his tone.

“So would I,” said Eyepatch Dude. He looked down at the bullet-holes in his coat, and sighed. “My name is Nick Fury, and I am the Director of an organisation named SHIELD.”

“Steve’s current employer,” Gabriel said with a nod. “Him and Tony have mentioned you a time or two.” Not in very flattering terms.

“SHIELD has been compromised,” Fury continued wearily. “As far as I can tell, it’s been infiltrated by God-knows-who. I am no longer in control of my own damn organisation.”

Hot Blonde Neighbour looked shocked and worried by the admission.

“Well, that explains why people are trying to kill you,” Gabriel remarked.

There was the sound of the lock turning in the front door, and everyone turned to look at it. Hot Blonde Neighbour raised her gun.

The door opened, and Steve blinked at all the people inside his apartment.

“Nick?” Steve asked in surprise. He gave Hot Blonde Neighbour a cool look. “Neighbour,” he acknowledged. He looked at Gabriel. “What is going on?”

“I’ll leave Nicky to explain it to you,” Gabriel said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a sniper to catch.”

Gabriel took flight, and headed several minutes into the past. He alighted on the building opposite his apartment building without making a sound. There was a guy all in black kneeling on the rooftop, aiming a sniper rifle unerringly at Steve’s window. A mask and goggles covered his face.

Gabriel watched as the sniper shot twice, then turned to disassemble and put away his equipment. In that moment, he spotted Gabriel. Without pausing, he began to raise the rifle.

Gabriel snapped his fingers, and the rifle turned into a NERF gun. A second snap, and the sniper crumpled to the ground unconscious.

“Let’s get a closer look at you,” Gabriel said musingly, and removed the guy’s mask and goggles. The face that was revealed was relatively young, but what got Gabriel’s attention was the state of the guy’s soul – it was _scarred_.

“What the…” Gabriel murmured in surprise, frowning. It took serious, enduring trauma to permanently scar a soul at all, and this guy…  his soul had the kind of scarring that spoke of decades of unending trauma. Something wasn’t right, here.

Gabriel took the opportunity to rifle through the guy’s mind. Reading minds wasn’t something he did very often, but right now, Gabriel needed answers. His disturbed frown deepened at the state of the assassin’s mind. It was a shambles, with most of its memories locked away and inaccessible, fragmented images or sounds flashing up here and there, but nothing whole or coherent. Gabriel pushed deeper, looking for something that might tell him who the sniper was, or who had sent him.

A memory flashed up, of the sniper being given orders and a dossier. Nick Fury’s face stared out of a photograph.

 _“You know what to do,”_ said a man in a suit, and the sniper didn’t respond.

The memory ended, and Gabriel rummaged carefully around. The memory he found next was so old and worn-away that he doubted that the sniper was even aware it existed. But there it was – no visual, just sound, a man’s voice repeating the same thing over and over again.

_“James Buchanan Barnes, Sergeant, 32557421. James Buchanan Barnes, Sergeant, 32557421. James Buchanan Barnes, Sergeant, 32557421.”_

“Ah, hell,” Gabriel groaned, and slipped out of Barnes’ mind. “Of course you are. Figures.”

Gabriel knew exactly who James Barnes was. Steve had spoken of him several times, wistfully, talking of the best friend who had always had his back. This was going to devastate him.

Giving Barnes a long look – the guy was looking pretty good, for someone his age – Gabriel snapped both himself and Barnes back to Steve’s apartment, dumping Barnes on Steve’s couch.

“Gabri– _Bucky?_ ” Gabriel heard Steve interrupt himself with a gasp. “ _What – how_ –”

“Not right now, Steve,” Gabriel said grimly, spreading a hand over Barnes’ head. He glanced up to see Steve looking like he was about to faint, and Fury and Hot Blonde Neighbour staring in disbelief. “This is going to take concentration, so everyone shut up, and no one interrupt, no matter what happens.”

Taking a deep breath out of habit, Gabriel began to heal the damage done to Barnes’ mind.

It was painstaking work, healing the damage and nudging memories back into place in the right order, and halfway through Barnes began to scream.

“Bucky –” Steve moved as though to intervene, but Gabriel snapped “ _Steve!_ ” in warning, and Steve stopped. Gabriel closed his eyes, and continued concentrating.

The damage was extensive, but it had all been done through physical means, not supernatural, which meant that Gabriel was capable of healing it. Barnes began to shake, his mind rejecting the memories that were being made consciously available for the first time in years  - memories of torture, assassination, of being cryogenically frozen – but Gabriel continued grimly on. Out of compassion, he began dulling some of the memories as he went, so that they would seem old and half-remembered when Barnes thought about them.

Finally, Gabriel reached the oldest recesses of Barnes memory, and the kind of memories that were returning to Barnes began to change. There was a memory of waking up to a metal arm, of being dragged bleeding through the snow – and before that, of falling. The next moment Gabriel saw Steve’s distraught face, screaming Barnes nickname.

From there, the process was relatively easy. Gabriel did his best to restore the older memories that were slipping back into place, giving them a greater sense of permanence than the later ones. Hopefully Barnes would come out of this still more or less himself, instead of the blank assassin he’d been before. But healing had never been Gabriel’s strongest suit, and he’d never tried to do anything like this before. All he could do was wait and see what happened.

Gabriel finally sat back on his heels with a sigh, and let his hand drop.

“It’ll be a while before he wakes up,” Gabriel said to an anxiously-hovering Steve. “He’s got nearly seventies years of memories to assimilate. HYDRA did a real number on him.”

“HYDRA?” the other three occupants of the room said as one.

“Yep,” Gabriel said, standing, and turning to face them. “Turns out they’re the peeps who infiltrated your top-secret club. By the way,” he stepped forward, closer to Fury, “don’t suppose you recognise this guy?”

He tapped two fingers to Fury’s forehead before the other man could move, showing him a copy of Barnes memory of the man in the suit who had given him orders.

Having half his bones broken and being shot had hardly seemed to faze Fury, but on seeing the man in the suit he seemed to crumple, something inside him breaking.

“Goddammit,” he growled, anger and grief infusing his tone.

“Sir?” asked Hot Blonde Neighbour, looking concerned. “What is it?”

“Alexander Pierce,” said Fury, in disgusted misery. “He gave the kill order.” Fury looked at Gabriel. “You’re telling me Pierce is HYDRA?”

Gabriel shrugged.

“Definitely looks that way.”

Fury sagged, and sank down into the nearest chair.

“That man declined the Nobel Peace Prize,” he said bitterly. “He said that peace is not an achievement, but a responsibility. It’s stuff like this that gives me trust issues.”

He fell silent, and no one broke it, giving him a moment to deal with the revelation.

It was Gabriel who broke the silence.

“To sum up, SHIELD’s been infiltrated by HYDRA, some guy I don’t know is probably leading it if Barnes memories are any guide, Bucky Barnes is alive and spent almost the last seventy years as a brainwashed assassin, and your own people are trying to kill you. Anything else we should know?”

Fury raised his head. His expression wasn’t the most disillusioned one Gabriel had ever seen, but it came close.

“It gets worse,” he said.

“How?” Hot Blonde Neighbour asked, appalled.

“Project Insight,” Steve said in grim understanding. “The three new helicarriers. HYDRA will use those to take out anyone who stands in their way.”

Fury nodded, and Hot Blonde Neighbour looked lost for words.

“So what do we do?” she asked finally.

“Well,” Gabriel suggested, “you could always turn to the guy in the room with the phenomenal cosmic powers, and ask him for help.”

Steve looked at Gabriel, hope lighting up his face.

“You can help?”

“ _Steve_ ,” Gabriel rebuked. “ _Please_. Damn near all-powerful archangel, here. Of course I can help.”

“Excuse me?” Fury repeated in disbelief.

“You heard me,” Gabriel retorted, turning to him. “Now tell me about these helicarriers. What do I need to know?”

Reluctantly, Fury outlined the specs for the three new helicarriers. Gabriel whistled when he was done.

“You didn’t go halves on these things, did you?” Gabriel asked. “Well, fortunately for everyone,” he said condescendingly, “I’m more than capable of destroying those things, even the arc reactors. Working out who’s HYDRA is going to be a little more difficult.”

“No,” said Steve. His expression was determined. “It’s not.”

“You have a plan, Captain?” Fury asked.

“I do,” Steve answered. “It’s going to cause chaos, but it’s probably the only option we have.”

“What?” Hot Blonde Neighbour demanded. “Spit it out.”

Steve took a deep breath, and exhaled.

“We tell everyone the truth,” he said firmly. “That HYDRA is within SHIELD, that Alexander Pierce is leading it, that HYDRA is planning to use the helicarriers to deal with anyone who stands in their way. We tell them that those helicarriers _cannot_ be launched. And then we wait, and see how HYDRA reacts.”

“You think that anyone with HYDRA will try to launch the helicarriers,” said Fury.

“But that will mean bloodshed, agents turning on each other,” Hot Blonde Neighbour protested. Steve looked at her.

“Do you have a better idea for driving HYDRA out in to the open?” he asked her.

Hot Blonde Neighbour was silent.

“You’ll need to lie low in the meantime,” Steve added to Fury. “Can’t have them trying to kill you again.”

“Standard protocol for an assassination attempt is to fake my death,” said Fury.

“Well, that’s easy,” said Gabriel, and snapped his fingers. A second later a perfect double of Fury was lying on the floor, in a pool of blood. “There you go.”

Everyone looked down at the double.

“Thanks,” Fury said dryly. Gabriel beamed.

“You’re welcome.” He turned to Steve. “You realise that the Pirate King here coming to your apartment means HYDRA will be all over you trying to find out what you know, right?”

“I can deal with it,” Steve said. Gabriel shrugged.

“Your call, Steve.”

“The helicarriers are scheduled to launch in two days,” said Fury. He looked at Gabriel. “Don’t suppose you could use your powers to transport me to a safe house?”

“No problemo,” Gabriel assured him. “You want to go now?”

“That would be best,” said Fury. He looked at Hot Blonde Neighbour. “Call it in.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and pulled out a communications unit.

“I was never here,” Gabriel told her and Steve. Hot Blonde Neighbour nodded, and hit a button on her comm., calling for back-up and telling whoever was on the other end that Fury was down.

Gabriel snapped his fingers, sending Barnes from Steve’s apartment to his own. That done, Gabriel took a quick peek at Fury’s surface thoughts, picking up the location of his safe house, and transported them both there. Gabriel reached out with his senses, but couldn’t sense anyone else in the house.

“Have fun, amigo,” he told Fury, and flew back to his apartment.

Barnes didn’t look all that comfortable in his assassin get-up, so Gabriel snapped his clothes into some comfortable pyjamas, dumping Barnes’ hidden knives and grenades in a pile in the corner of the room.

He knew that Steve would be desperate to check on Barnes; he also knew that Steve would probably be entangled with SHIELD people for a while, and unable to get away without raising further suspicions. He didn’t expect Steve to show up until early next morning, at the earliest.

Snapping up a blanket to cover Barnes with, Gabriel left him on the couch, and withdrew to his bedroom to watch TV in there.

* * *

The next morning Gabriel was playing games on the Nintendo Wii when there was groan from the couch. Gabriel was immediately by Barnes’ side, watching as he woke up.

Barnes’ eyes fluttered open, then widened as he noticed Gabriel, his hand automatically going to where one of his knives should have been holstered. His face at finding that he was wearing flannel pyjamas with ducks on them was priceless. A second later Barnes clutched at his head, Gabriel forgotten as all his memories hit him.

“Oh, Jesus,” Barnes said, and threw up.

Gabriel wrinkled his nose, but patted a heaving Barnes on the back.

“Easy there, soldier. Take it easy.”

When he could, Barnes looked up at Gabriel, a little wild around the eyes.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Don’t remember me?” Gabriel raised his eyebrows, genuinely curious about the answer. Barnes brow furrowed. After a minute, his eyes widened again, and he tensed.

“Easy,” Gabriel said again. “I’m not here to hurt you. As it happens, we have a mutual friend in common. The name Steve Rogers ring a bell?”

“Steve’s dead,” said Barnes, still looking tense.

“Not dead,” Gabriel corrected. “He was frozen in ice for nearly seventy years, but the serum kept him alive until he was frozen and thawed. He’s part of a team called the Avengers. They defeated the Chitauri invasion. You don’t remember hearing about any of that?”

Barnes shook his head, his suspicion not lessening one iota.

Gabriel sighed.

“Well, I guess there’s no convincing you until Steve drops by, which might not be for a while. There’s a mess with HYDRA that we’re trying to clean up, which is why I’m here playing babysitter. You hungry?”

Barnes was silent for a long moment.

“Yes,” he said finally.

“How do you feel about bacon and eggs for breakfast?” Gabriel was already heading for the fridge.

Gabriel saw Barnes shrug in the edges of his peripheral vision.

“Bacon and eggs it is,” Gabriel decided.

“Are you the one who gave me my memories back?” Barnes asked quietly.

“Yep, that was all me.” Gabriel studied him. “How are you feeling?”

Barnes shrugged again, narrowed eyes still fixed on Gabriel.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Gabriel gave him a long look.

“Gabriel,” he said finally. “I’m Gabriel.”

“Gabriel?” Barnes repeated.

Gabriel let a little of his Grace hang heavy in the air. To a human, it was felt like the feeling you got right before a thunderstorm. He spread his wings, and behind him, six huge, wing-shaped shadows unfurled, spreading across the walls and ceiling.

“ _Gabriel_ ,” Gabriel responded, letting just a hint of his true voice slip through, not enough to hurt Barnes, but enough to impress. The room shook slightly at the sound.

Barnes was sitting with eyes like saucers, gaping like a moron, and Gabriel pulled his Grace back in and folded his wings away. The room returned to normal.

“You’re… you…” Barnes said, and stopped, speechless. Then, to Gabriel’s bemusement, he started to laugh.

Gabriel watched him for a moment, but Barnes only buried his face in his hands and sat there, shaking, so Gabriel got on with cooking the bacon and eggs. It had taken him time to acquire this skill, but he could now cook bacon and eggs without burning the bacon or leaving the eggs too runny.

“You’re telling me you’re an angel,” Barnes said finally.

“Archangel.”

“And you decided to rescue me?” Barnes’ voice was on the edge of hysteria.

“Once I saw what had been done to you, sure.” Gabriel turned the bacon. “No one deserves that.”

Barnes shook his head.

“And you’re friends with Steve. Christ. That’s him all over.”

“He is a pretty righteous soul,” Gabriel agreed easily. “He’s been a good friend.”

Barnes didn’t say anything else, so Gabriel continued cooking.

A little while later Gabriel put two plates of food down on the dining table.

“Come on, compadre. Eat.”

Moving warily, Barnes took a seat at the table. Gabriel handed him some cutlery, which he took with the nearest hand, which happened to be made of metal. Then he spent a moment staring at his robotic arm like he’d never really seen it before. Gabriel cleared his throat, and Barnes transferred the knife to his right hand, and began cutting his bacon and eggs into bite-size pieces. He did it slowly, like he wasn’t quite certain how.

Gabriel sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

There was a knock on the front door, and Gabriel frowned.

“Stay here,” he told Barnes, who was already changing the grip on his knife, ready to throw it. Gabriel made Barnes invisible to anyone but him, and went to answer the door.

“Yes?” he asked the two men in suits, who were waiting in the hallway. “Can I help you fellas?”

“Mr Gabriel Messenger?” asked one. Gabriel nodded.

“I’m afraid we have a few questions,” said the other agent, holding up a SHIELD  ID. “You’ll have to come with us.”

“Is this about the shooting at Steve’s?” he asked. “That black guy?”

The two SHIELD agents exchanged glances.

“Then sure,” said Gabriel, stepping forwards. In the same movement, he brought both hands up, and tapped the forehead of each agent before they knew what was going on.

Both agents fell unconscious. Gabriel took a second to alter their memories – when they woke up, they’d remember him using martial arts to knock them out – and walked back inside his apartment.

Barnes was standing, his knife in one hand.

“Trouble?” he asked.

“Change of plans,” Gabriel admitted. “We need to leave.”

He snapped his fingers, and Barnes’ pyjamas were gone, replaced by his former outfit, complete with the hidden knives and grenades. Barnes jumped slightly, and stared down at himself, before glancing back at Gabriel with a perturbed look.

“Warn a guy,” Barnes said faintly.

“Okay,” Gabriel agreed. “In about five seconds, I’m going to teleport us somewhere else. I suggest you bring your breakfast with you.”

Shooting Gabriel a wary look, Barnes picked up his plate of bacon and eggs in his human hand, the metal one still holding his knife.

Gabriel snapped his fingers, and transported them both to Fury’s safehouse.

“What the hell–” Fury stared at Gabriel and Barnes. “What are you two doing here?”

“They sent agents around to take me in,” Gabriel explained, “which probably doesn’t bode well for Steve.”

Fury glanced at Barnes, who was now holding his plate in one hand and eating bacon and eggs off his knife with the other.

“Watch Barnes for me,” Gabriel added, at the same time as he made himself invisible. The next moment, he was elsewhere.

Tracking Steve didn’t take all that long. Gabriel found him in a house in the suburbs, along with Natasha.

“Hidey-ho, campers!” Gabriel said loudly as he made himself visible, then blinked down at the knife embedded in his torso. “Geez, what is it with assassins and throwing knives?” he asked reproachfully as he pulled the knife out, his Grace immediately healing his vessel.

“Gabriel,” Steve said in relief.

“I’m not sorry,” said Natasha coolly.

“Nice to see you too, Natasha,” Gabriel told her. He looked beyond them, to the surprised looking black guy. “Who’s this guy?”

“Sam Wilson,” said the black guy. “How did you do that? And why isn’t anyone concerned that you just got stabbed?”

“I have divine powers,” Gabriel explained. He ran a hand over the bloody hole in his shirt, and it disappeared.

“How’s Bucky?” Steve asked.

“Not too bad, considering they wiped his mind more times than an etch-a-sketch,” Gabriel said. “He knows who he is, at least. I left him eating breakfast with Fury.”

Steve immediately relaxed a little.

“Fury’s dead,” Natasha said, but her gaze was accusing. Steve shrugged under it.

“The fewer people who knew he’s alive, the better,” Steve said unapologetically.

Natasha stared at him, then let out a huff. She turned back to Gabriel.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“SHIELD sent agents to bring me in, so I figured Steve couldn’t be doing too well,” Gabriel said. “What are _you_ guys doing _here?_ ”

“We weren’t sure where else to go,” Steve said honestly.

“Uh-huh. And how’d Natasha get brought in on this?” Gabriel wanted to know.

“She helped me escape SHIELD,” Steve explained.

Gabriel nodded, and turned to survey Natasha.

“What?” she asked, frowning.

Gabriel rifled through her thoughts, but it seemed that she was sincere about helping Steve. There was no knowledge of HYDRA’s plot inside her mind.

“Did you tell her about HYDRA?”

“HYDRA?” Wilson said, brow wrinkling. “The Nazi science arm that Captain America took down in WWII?”

“Yes, except it turns out they went underground and infiltrated SHIELD,” Gabriel said. “I’ll let you explain. I, on the other hand, had better get back to Barnes before he and Fury creep each other out too much. Adios!”

Gabriel flew back to Fury’s safehouse, to find that Barnes and Fury were sitting in chairs, watching each other carefully.

Finally Barnes said evenly, “I’m sorry I shot you.”

“Your apology is accepted,” Fury said, just as levelly.

“Great!” Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Good to see you’re getting along.”

Both men glared at him. Gabriel was unfazed.

“So, Steve is fine, he’s camped out in some guy’s house with Natasha, who apparently helped him escape SHIELD. I assume Steve’s explaining about HYDRA right now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and do a little recon.”

Gabriel was about to fly out again when Fury said, “Wait,” so Gabriel paused, and looked at him expectantly.

“Can you bring someone else in on this without anyone else knowing?” Fury asked.

“Sure,” Gabriel agreed. “Who’d you have in mind?”

“Maria Hill, the Deputy Director of SHIELD,” said Fury. “If there’s one person in SHIELD I trust, it’s her. Can you bring her here without anyone noticing she’s gone?”

Gabriel smirked.

“Easy,” he said, and took flight.

He landed at SHIELD headquarters first, invisible and inaudible to anyone else’s senses. Alexander Pierce was giving some speech about how Captain America was a fugitive, and Gabriel sniggered at the _are you for real?_ expression on the face of the guy standing behind him. Lots of people seemed uneasy with the fact that the icon of Truth, Justice and The American Way was a wanted man, particularly since Pierce hadn’t given them a good reason why. It boded well for Steve’s plan of separating HYDRA double-agents from the loyal SHIELD agents.

Gabriel hung around and observed a while, before he went in search of Maria Hill. To Gabriel’s delighted pleasure, he found her examining Pierce’s file. Making sure that nothing that took place in her office would be seen or heard, Gabriel un-cloaked himself.

“Don’t you think it’s a little unwise to be looking at that?” he asked, making his presence known.

Maria Hill was out of her seat and had her gun aimed at him in a blink.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Relax,” Gabriel said. He seemed to be saying that a lot to people, lately. “Fury sent me.”

“Fury’s dead,” Hill said, her voice clipped. “I saw the body.”

Gabriel tilted his head.

“Standard protocol is to fake the Director’s death if someone attempts an assassination,” he chided. “Come on, like the way he ‘died’ didn’t seem a little funky to you? I’ve got to congratulate you on your instincts, though. Homing in on Pierce first? Even Fury didn’t do that.”

“They’re friends,” said Hill, without lowering her gun. “He wouldn’t. Why are you here?”

“I told you, Fury sent me,” Gabriel said impatiently. “He’s getting the gang together, wants you in on the action.”

Hill hesitated.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked. “Besides, I can’t just leave. Someone will notice I’m gone, even if there’s not much for me to do, right now.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Gabriel said with a smirk. He snapped his fingers, and a double of Hill appeared. The double looked at the real Hill and mirrored Gabriel’s smirk, waving her fingers in a hello.

Hill’s eyes were wide as she stared at her double.

“That’s how you faked Nick’s death,” she said, and finally lowered her gun. “How? What are you?”

“We can discuss that later,” Gabriel said, and snapped his fingers.

The next moment, he and Hill were standing in Fury’s safehouse.

“Agent Hill,” Fury said in welcome. “Glad you could make it.”

Hill stared at Fury, and took a deep breath, a myriad of emotions playing over her face.

But all she said was, “Good to see you alive, sir.”

“Did the archangel fill you in on anything?” Fury asked.

“ _Archangel_ _?_ ” Hill spluttered in disbelief.

“That face everyone makes when they find out what I am? Hilarious,” Gabriel said, throwing himself into the nearest chair. He snapped up a TV and Nintendo Wii, and continued playing where he’d left off that morning.

“Oh, you’re back,” said Barnes, walking into the room. “What’s that?”

“This, my friend, is the definition of ubiquity in gaming consoles,” Gabriel said.

“Sir,” said Hill, her voice slightly higher than usual, “is that _the Winter Soldier?_ ”

Fury sighed.

“It’s a long story. Sit down, and give me a chance to explain.”

Hill reluctantly sat down in the nearest chair, looking like she wasn’t sure whether she should shoot while she still had the chance.

As Fury filled Hill in on everything that had been going on, Gabriel continued playing on the Nintendo Wii. Barnes watched with curious interest.

“It all sounds unbelievable,” Hill said, when Fury was done. She kept sending Gabriel and Barnes little watchful, mistrustful glances. It would have been insulting if it hadn’t been so amusing.

“I take it now would be a good time to grab Steve and the others so that we can work out some of the logistics of our plan?” Gabriel asked.

Fury inclined his head.

“That would be helpful.”

“I’m a regular taxi service today,” Gabriel grumbled, but handed the Wii remote to Barnes. “Here. Knock yourself out.”

Barnes looked startled, but took the remote.

Gabriel disappeared from the safehouse, and reappeared in Sam Wilson’s house.

About an inch away from Wilson.

“Jesus!” Wilson yelped, leaping about a foot in the air.

“Gabriel,” said Natasha. “I assume Fury wants us?”

“You assume correctly,” Gabriel told her. He glanced around at Steve and Wilson. “It’s time to talk logistics. You want Wilson along?”

“Hell yes, I am coming along,” Wilson declared. “You think I’m going to just sit this one out?”

Gabriel shrugged.

“Plenty would.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a soldier,” Wilson said. “And I’m not about to sit by while the fate of my country is at stake. Especially not when Captain America himself is fighting the good fight.”

“Thanks,” Steve said sincerely. Wilson grinned back.

Gabriel snapped his fingers – he was going to strain a muscle, at this rate – and the lot of them were transported to Fury’s safe house.

Steve took one look at Barnes playing with the Wii and choked out, “ _Bucky_.”

Barnes’ face crumpled, and he went, “ _Steve_.”

The next moment, there was hugging.

“Aw, isn’t this sweet,” Gabriel cooed, watching with interest.

Steve just ignored Gabriel’s comment, out of long habit, but Barnes muttered, “Shut up.”

“You’re right, it is sweet,” Natasha told Gabriel, watching the scene with a lurking smile tugging at one corner of her mouth.

Steve and Barnes broke apart just enough to look each other in the face.

“Buck, I’m so sorry,” said Steve. Tears were shining in his eyes. “If I hadn’t let you fall–”

“Christ, Steve, you’d blame yourself for the sky falling, wouldn’t you?” Barnes said, trying to surreptitiously wipe his eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, punk. None of it was your fault.”

“It feels like it,” Steve managed, wiping at his own eyes.

“Yeah, well that’s because you’re a stupid ass,” Barnes replied, and Steve gave a shaky laugh.

“Nah,” he retorted gently, “you took all the stupid with you.”

The two men grinned at each other.

“Touching as this little reunion is,” Fury said loudly, “we have things to discuss, gentlemen.”

Gabriel snapped up a few extra chairs, and Steve and Barnes sat down. Barnes was still holding the Wii remote, which he passed back to Gabriel, who paused the game.

“Now,” Fury began, and began to talk about what they were going to do the next day, when the helicarriers were due to be launched.

* * *

The next day, they put their plan in motion.

Hill was back in SHIELD, having commandeered the building’s security control room so that she could watch what was going on throughout the building. The others were all wearing earpieces, so that she could keep them updated on what was happening. Even Gabriel had one.

Their first move was for Gabriel to teleport Sam, Steve, Barnes and Natasha in, and for the three to seize control of the building’s PA system.

Steve took a deep breath, and began to talk, his words broadcast throughout the entire building.

“Attention all SHIELD. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You're heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time to tell the truth. SHIELD. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. I don't know who else is, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not.”

Steve turned off the intercom.

“Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?” Wilson quipped.

“And now it’s my turn,” said Gabriel. “Have fun, boys and girls.”

He took flight, landing back in the security control room.

Hill glanced at him.

“We have a group heading towards the first helicarrier,” she reported.

“Right,” said Gabriel, and flew out of there. He landed invisibly nearby, and watched as the approaching group of agents was stopped by the men guarding the helicarrier. The group of agents raised their guns, and that was enough for Gabriel.

With a snap of his fingers he knocked them unconscious, then stuffed them in a pocket universe he’d created especially for the occasion.

For Gabriel, most of the couple of hours was like that. Hill kept continued to notify him every time someone approached the helicarriers or revealed themselves as HYDRA. Every time she did, Gabriel would grab the HYDRA agents, render them unconscious, and stick them into his pocket universe.

Finally, people stopped shooting at each other, and agents stopped trying to gain access to the helicarriers. Gabriel waited.

“Is that it?” Wilson asked.

“We have a situation,” Hill reported.

“Guess not,” said Wilson.

“Pierce is holding the members of the World Security Council hostage,” Hill went on.

“I’ll deal with it,” Gabriel sighed, and took flight.

He landed where Pierce was, to find several people standing looking tense and angry, while Pierce stood at ease, some HYDRA agent aiming his weapon at the group.

Gabriel knocked the agent out and stuck him in the pocket universe, before turning to Pierce. A look through the man’s mind told Gabriel so, so much, and left him feeling disgusted.

“Well, you’re a horrible little toad, aren’t you?” Gabriel said.

“I don’t know who you are–” Pierce began, but didn’t get to finish, because Gabriel had turned him into an actual toad. The toad croaked in surprised confusion.

Gabriel stuck him in the pocket universe as well, and turned to the World Security Council, who were looking varying degrees of wary and unnerved.

“Everyone okay here?”

“Our security badges,” said one woman. “They’ve been set to electrocute us.”

Gabriel snapped his fingers, and the badges disappeared.

“There you go,” he said, and flew back to where the three helicarriers were.

“Is that everything?” Gabriel asked.

“The situation seems to be under control,” Hill agreed.

“Then in that case –” Gabriel teleported Fury in to talk to the World Security Council – no doubt he had a lot of damage control ahead of him – and rubbed his hands together. “It’s time for me to do my thing.”

Snapping his fingers yet again, Gabriel made sure that everyone who was anywhere near the helicarriers found themselves elsewhere. Then, bracing himself, Gabriel let a significant part of his Grace slip free from his vessel.

Blinding white light filled the helicarrier dock, and Gabriel stretched out, consuming the three helicarriers. The giant arc reactors began to explode, but Gabriel absorbed the energy, tempering it and releasing it as something less harmful. Gabriel’s Grace filled the loading dock, destroying everything, the concrete floor bubbling and melting as it was exposed to the heat and light of angelic Grace.

Finally, when there was no trace of the helicarriers left, Gabriel slipped back into his vessel.

The area around him was totally destroyed, open to the sky; the water from the fountains above had sizzled away to nothing, evaporating away from the heat of Gabriel’s Grace. Most importantly, there wasn’t a trace left of the helicarriers.

Gabriel raised his arms and stretched, feeling uncomfortable at being compressed down into a human vessel again. Ah well, it couldn’t be helped.

He tapped his earpiece to make sure it was still working.

“My work here is done,” he said loudly. “Guys, I’ll leave the cleanup to you. If you’ll excuse me, there’s a bar that does great cocktails, and I can feel it calling me.”

Before Gabriel left, though, he located Barnes, and landed next to him.

“So, it’s all over,” Gabriel told him. “We’re big damn heroes. Saved the day and everything. All that’s left is the cleanup and paperwork. Want to go get drunk and leave Steve to handle it all?”

“Buddy,” said Barnes fervently, “that’s the best damn idea I’ve heard since I got my memories back.”

**Author's Note:**

> _Postscript: And that was how Fury's most secret safehouse acquired a Nintendo Wii._


End file.
